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08280
April 11, 2008
Peacemaking Conference looks at justice, poverty
July event set at Chapman University in southern California
LOUISVILLE — The causes and effects of poverty is the focus of the 2008 Intergenerational Peacemaking Conference of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), July 15-19 on the campus of Chapman University in Orange, CA.
The theme of the annual conference — sponsored by the General Assembly Council’s Presbyterian Peacemaking and Hunger Programs, the Presbyterian Washington and United Nations Offices, Mission Responsibility Through Investment, the Child Advocacy Office and the Office on Small Church and Community Ministry of the PC(USA) — is “Sowing Mustard Seeds: Working for God’s Justice — Confronting Poverty.”
“Jesus calls us to be aware of systems that impoverish people,” says Sara Lisherness, director of the GAC’s Compassion, Peace and Justice ministry area. “This conference, using the parable of the mustard seed, will teach how the power of small acts of peaceful resistance can break those systems open.”
The conference is set against the backdrop of economic globalization, which has created new forms of poverty with more extreme disparities between the rich and the poor, conference organizers say. The annual income of the richest 1 percent of the world’s population is equal to that of the poorest 57 percent, with over 24,000 people dying each day due to causes of poverty and malnutrition.
Conference participants will explore the convergences of economic, political, cultural, and military systems that force and facilitate the flow of wealth and power from vulnerable persons, communities and countries to the more powerful.
“Participants can also expect to learn how to be equipped to live as disciples of Jesus who work to ensure that all of God’s children are cared for and have places at the table,” said Lisherness.
Theological reflection and worship will be lead by Rev. Mark Lomax, pastor of First African Presbyterian Church in Lithonia, GA.
He will be joined at the conference by keynote speakers Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, a policy think tank on social, economic and environmental issues; Roberto Jordan, president of the Reformed Church in Argentina; and Lisa Schirch, professor of peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA.
Conference workshops will cover an array of topics such as community organizing, Fair Food, trafficking, water privatization, child soldiers, living and minimum wage issues, fair trade, immigration, racism, caring for creation, Sudan, HIV/AIDS, Enough for Everyone, Iraq, nonviolent social change, and others.
Visit the Peacemaking Web site to register online or download a registration form. For more information, contact the Conference Registrar, Dayna Oliver by email or by phone at 888-728-7228, ext. 8700. |
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